Cisco unveils technology to predict network issues

– Cisco Systems Inc on Wednesday unveiled a technology that it says can predict issues on enterprise networks before they happen to help prevent problems and increase reliability.

The predictive software engine will gather data from various sources within a company’s network, learn the patterns and help engineers find hardware issues, bandwidth spikes and app configuration changes before they cause difficulties.

“A dedicated team of about 30 people have been working on this over the last two years,” Cisco Chief Executive Officer Chuck Robbins told Reuters. “We will apply this technology to a broad range of products and services over the next few years.”

Cisco, which sells a range of networking equipment and software to connect devices to the internet, has tested the technology with about 15 customers, including Phillips 66 and Schneider Electric.

Traditional technologies can detect issues and react only when they happen, but if networks can predict issues and make changes proactively, the user will have a vastly better experience, Robbins said.

The company plans to announce initial integrations and offers of the product at its annual networking conference, Cisco Live, in June.